Innovation in marketing and communications
Eftplus has simplified loyalty card programmes for SMEs, linking them to a customer’s eftpos transactions, rather than involving annoying cards or personal identification at the till.
IT WAS 2010 and internet consultant Julian Cox was frustrated. A self- confessed coffee afficionado, he was a regular at the local coffee shop, and wanted to be part of its loyalty scheme. But he didn’t want yet another card in his already overfilled wallet.
Instead he wondered if it wasn’t possible to have a loyalty programme attached to the card he used most often – his eftpos card.
He couldn’t find an existing programme, so he set about building his own, and Eftplus was launched in late 2011.
“Their eftpos card is your loyalty card,” says co-founder Marcus Hoefliger. “They pay and earn points – there's no stamping and swiping and no fuss. And the system can crunch data too, providing information about individual to the desired tissue depth, irrespective of drug viscosity and composition”.
It’s silent, controllable and customizable for humans or animals, and in medical, agricultural and cosmetic applications.
Need a blood test? The No more needles system can mimic a mosquito, creating a tiny hole in the skin and then gently withdrawing fluid. The ability to take blood this way is on the cards soon, says Associate Professor Andrew Taberner. Further in the future is the option of customers, and allowing a business to make customized offers to particular segments – males under 30, top 500 spenders etc.”
Hoefliger says retailers in the programme don't need additional hardware or software, making it easy for a small owner- operator, but also scaleable for bigger corporates.
“This is game- changing technology in the loyalty space previously dominated by banks, airlines and store cards,” he says.
Three years after launching, the SME loyalty scheme has 150 companies in the system, and has expanded into Indonesia and Australia, Hoefliger says. The company has been able to attract partners like Paymark and BNZ, and loyalty scheme heavyweights like Steve Lobb (founder of FlyBuys) and Peter Hall (from ASB’s True Rewards programme) are on the board. JUDGES COMMENTS: A strong customer orientation proposition (in a cluttered space) with extremely ambitious growth targets. An impressive board and team with relevant global experience. incorporating a sensor into the device, allowing health practitioners to wirelessly link the test results (in a diabetes patient, for example) with on-line medical records or doctors’ advice and then automatically deliver the required medication back through the skin. Cunning eh? “Our vision is that this technology will transform the delivery of modern medicines and the management of diseases, while improving the patient experience, Taberner says.
Thee projectpoject hasas beebeen a cocollaborationaboat o betweebetween creative engineers at Auckland University and prolific New Zealand inventor Dr Ian Hunter, based at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Development of the technology has combined biology, optics, mechanics, electronics and chemistry, while the controllable motor at the heart of the device was inspired by the team’s experience with robotics and loudspeakers. JUDGES COMMENTS: This could be market creating and genuinely ‘disruptive’. They are tackling a problem in a unique way, with a product which has significant advantages and great commercial prospects.